The technical scope of the present invention is that of devices to attach observation means or other to the end of a cannon.
To attach any device to the cannon of an armored vehicle, various means have been proposed, all of which require an intervention on the cannon barrel itself, that is to say the welding of an element. This intervention is likely to affect the properties of the barrel. Thus, patent GB2259133 describes a combat vehicle whose barrel is fitted at its free end with a fin to which a device may be attached. However, attaching and dismounting said device requires tricky manual operations that can only by carried out with the aid of special tooling and are not without operational hazards.
The aim of the present invention is to supply an attachment device able to be simply attached to and detached from the end of a cannon and ensuring the protection of said device.
The invention thus relates to an observation and/or scrambling or other effect device at the end of the cannon of an armored vehicle, wherein it incorporates a rigid substantially parallelepiped body, one face of which is shaped to fit the outer wall of the barrel, and constituting an equipment housing, said body being connected to the barrel by removable linking means.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the equipment housing of the body incorporates at least three cameras.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the reception cage of the body incorporates at least three cameras.
According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the three cameras are oriented along three different directions to cover a field of observation of approximately 180xc2x0.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the three cameras are connected to the monitor of the armored vehicle, said monitor being able to incorporate means to select a single camera.
Preferably, the attachment means are formed of a belt equipped with a frog clamp, also known as a strap clamp.
A first advantage of the device according to the invention lies in the simplicity of its manufacture since the cameras may simply be embedded in the constitutive material of the body.
Another advantage lies in the rapidity of its connection to the barrel.
A further advantage lies in the fact that the body is able to receive any type of device.